Ricardo Costa, charged with beating his dog and leaving it for dead, indicted in Hampden Superior Court for animal cruelty

SPRINGFIELD - The animal cruelty case against Ricardo Costa, charged with brutally beating his pet dog and leaving it for dead in a snow-covered field, has moved from Palmer Dustrict Court to Hampden Superior Court.

A grand jury indicted Costa, 40, of 31 Acorn St. in Ludlow, of two counts: killing, maiming or poisoning an animal; and animal cruelty.

Although it is not completely unusual for animal cruelty cases to be brought to Hampden Superior Court, most often such counts are among other charges such as domestic violence or arson. For Costa, the indictment is based on the actions toward the dog only.

Costa denied the charges at his arraignment in Palmer District Court in February. Bail was set at $2,500 cash or $25,000 personal surety.

According to police, Costa grew angry that the dog, a year-old Pomeranian named Scrunchie, defecated in the house. He is accused of repeatedly hitting the dog with a pair of metal pruning shears, causing serious injuries, including a fractured skull. Thinking the dog was dead, he then dumped the body in the snow near Red Bridge Road in Wilbraham, police said.

Ludlow police found the dog alive shortly after 9 p.m., roughly two hours after they first began investigating the case after receiving a call from someone who had heard about the beating.

After speaking with Ludlow police, Costa agreed to show them where he had dumped the dog, according to police.

Ludlow police Detective Allison Metcalfe said when she and other officers went to the scene, they were certain the dog was dead when they found it lying in the snow.

She said she had just turned her head when one of the other officers shouted that he said the dog move its head. From that point, the recovery became a rescue.

Metcalfe said they wrapped the dog in a sweatshirt, and with the car heater cranked to high, she rushed the dog to the Boston Road Animal Hospital on Boston Road while another officer cradled it on his lap.

She said that in her 18 years on the job as a full-time police officer, she has never seen mistreatment of an animal to such a degree. “Other officers have, but I have not,” she said.

Metcalfe said the hospital told her the dog has a fractured skull, and staff at the veterinary hospital are cautiously optimistic it will make a recovery.

Metcalfe used her own credit card to pay the down payment on care for the dog, and as word spread about the case, Ludlow police officers started soliciting donations to pay for its medical bills.

Pet Chance, a web-based organization that collects private donations to help with the cost of animal in need of veterinary care, had raised more than $3,700 of the estimated $5,000 that will needed for the dog’s treatment.

Metcalfe has since adopted the dog, who she renamed Jameson.

The state law regarding cruelty to animals says anyone who cruelly beats, mutilates or kills an animal may be punished by up to five years in state prison, 2½ years in a county jail or a fine of $2,500. The law specifies that it makes no difference if the person accused of cruelty owns the animal or not.